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Axis Turn 157 / 28th June 1942

Space for time is fine; troops for time is not so good. I've still got more of the former than of the latter.

Particularly since this turn the Axis didn't make a lot of headway. Most of their movement was filling up space I had already vacated, primarily between the Elbrus and Maikop. Since there is so little to show, here's a larger picture for a change.

Allied Turn 157 / 28th June 1942

Plugging the gap in the Caucasus/Kuban front is now more or less finished. One 44 Army corps cut off south of the mountains breaks out in a Kamikaze attack and chases Army Group D HQ almost into Tbilisi. A pity TOAW doesn't really simulate the chain-of-command. That AG would be hors de combat for a week ...
On the Donets front containing the Axis penetration as usual. To my surprise all troops in five forward hexes both sides of Stalino withdraw without any more damage than XVII Mech ending up "retreated" two hexes E of Stalino. The one thing that doesn't work is getting the guys west of the Mius back over the river, in spite of an engineer unit in the crucial river hex. That also means that in spite of sending even more forces down from the Kharkov front I end up somewhat short of units to really bolster the southern end of the front against a breakthrough either towards Taganrog or Voroshilov, both meaning that I would end up with a lot of good units cut off with their backs to the Don <shudder>. As I said earlier, I am somewhat running out of units as the front gets longer and longer and the corps weaker and weaker ... 157South2.jpg157Caucasus+Kuban2.jpg

Allied Turn 158 / 5th July 1942

As always I elect to not fight the Supergermans if I can avoid it. In the Caucasus I can, and just try to slip out as many units as possible from the forming pocket. At Stalino in the Ukraine I can't, so the inconveniently large bunch of trapped units is trying to fight its way out, supported by an armoured relief attack from the SE and three bomber wings. Only one infantry corps succeeds. I find it slightly illogical that the other units cannot advance into the gap once it's opened just because they "broke off the attack" earlier. They are not asked to fight any more, just to march. If the unit that has fought to the end can do that, surely can they who must be in better shape? Of course that gap won't remain open after the Supergermans have had their say about it. As an added inconvenience, Stalino is a replacement city, so I have reinforcements appearing in the pocket. Just to be sure, this turn's reinforcements was a bunch of HQs. What the hell do I need HQs for? I need fighting units. Right now I am throwing everything that can fight into the way of the German thrust for Rostov, to little avail. Fortunately, at least, I got most of the units almost trapped on the lower Mius back to the main frontline by way of Taganrog.158Caucasus2.jpg158South2.jpg